Our Mission
MinnPost is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces thoughtful, in-depth journalism about civic and cultural affairs impacting Minnesota. As a community-focused enterprise, we publish this coverage and make it available for free to readers through our website and offer free re-publication to partner organizations. Through our reporting, we take readers beyond the headlines and deep into the issues that matter through our public-service journalism, empowering them to engage in the politics and policy-making shaping Minnesota’s future. MinnPost also includes commentary pieces from the community. MinnPost does not endorse candidates for office or publish unsigned editorials representing an institutional position. We encourage broad-ranging, civil discussion from many points of view.
We provide news and analysis based on reporting by professional journalists and adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.
MinnPost is committed to transparency, including our own financial information:
Community Support
We believe that in-depth, civic-minded journalism is a community asset that sustains democracy and quality of life, and we rely on individual donors, foundations, advertisers and sponsors to sustain our work.
As of December 2023, MinnPost had nearly 5,000 member-donor households contributing amounts ranging from $1 to more than $20,000 a year. Over half of our donors are sustaining members who make automatic recurring donations.
You can view the 2023 individual donor list here. MinnPost is grateful to recognize our generous supporters, and we’re committed to transparency to our readers about the sources of our funding.
Major Funders
MinnPost’s initial funding of $850,000 came from four families: John and Sage Cowles, Lee Lynch and Terry Saario, Joel and Laurie Kramer, and David and Vicki Cox.
Currently, grant support comes from: Arnold Ventures (general operating), The Otto Bremer Trust (Greater Minnesota reporting), The McKnight Foundation (general operating), The Joyce Foundation (effective democracy and environment), The Fund for Nonprofit News at The Miami Foundation (general operating matching funds), and the Fredrikson & Byron Foundation (general operating).
In 2020, in response to the negative impact COVID-19 had on our advertising revenue, MinnPost applied for and received a $250,700 loan through the Payroll Protection Program of the CARES Act to cover payroll and rent. The entirety of this loan was forgiven in January 2021. Funding sources play no role in MinnPost’s journalism.
Board of Directors: Peter Hutchinson, Chair; Adair Mosley, Vice Chair; Katie Cole, Treasurer; Kari Ruth, Secretary; Lee Lynch, Chair Emeritus; Tanner Curl, ex-officio; Ellen Archibald, A.J. Colianni, Fran Davis, Jack Dempsey, Jim Erickson, Nancy Feldman, Jill Field, Diane Hofstede, Tom Horner, Jonathan Kealing, Jay Kiedrowski, Joel Kramer, Laurie Kramer, Glenn Miller, Max Musicant, Marsha Pitts-Phillips, Karen Schanfield, Rebecca Shavlik, Toya Stewart Downey, and Leslie Suzukamo.
In 2021, MinnPost’s board of directors adopted the following pledge toward the organization’s efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion:
MinnPost will assure that the diverse experiences and voices of all people of Minnesota and the Native Nations who share that geography are represented and heard in our board, our staff, and in the journalism we produce. The MinnPost board of directors supports our staff’s commitment to equitable journalism and will work to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in our workplace. The board’s commitment does not signify a moment, but, rather, a journey of reflection and challenging conversations grounded in values of anti-racism and equitable practices. It is only by recognizing and addressing past and ongoing injustices that we are able to properly fulfill our mission to our stakeholders, members and readers.
